COVIDGuidelines2023:India'sPreparationForTheNextWave
With thestartofthenewfreshyear,COVIDcasesseemtorisebackinIndia.Therisingcases in other countrieslikeChina,Japan,SouthKorea,HongKongandcountriesoftheUSAhave altered India to prepare for the next possible wave. Hopefully, India was always in gear-up mode to face the upcoming waves. Even the vaccines COVISHIED and COVAXIN were prepared with a formulation to fight against different variants of the coronavirus. The researchers and scientists made the vaccines effective, keeping in mind the upcoming possiblevariants.
Even if the lockdown wasliftedearlier,peoplewereadvisedtofollowthenecessarypersonal precaution and hygiene to avoid infection. Hence, with the new alarm of the next variant, India is ready, with its covid new guidelines for 2023, to face and declinetheoccurrenceof 4th wave.
FreshCasesOfNewVariantsDetectedInIndia
Earlier in December 2022, the sub-variant of Omicron BF.7 was noticed in India. The neighbouring country China has already witnessed a huge surge in cases. Theexpectationof the next wave in China was confirmed. At the same time, India witnessed four cases of the BF.7 variant. Among them, two cases were detected from Gujarat, and two were from Odisha. This sub-variant was also detected in several countries, such as Belgium, Germany, theUS,France,Denmark,andtheUK.
The alarm of another fresh variant- XBB.1.5 was noticed in the following days. The SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium recently informed that India is now having a total of five cases of the XBB.1.5 variant. This variant was responsible for surging the cases in the United States. Among the five cases, three were detected from Gujarat and one each in Rajasthan and Karnataka. Hence, the practice of implementing and providingbackthecovid resources the government announced in India. Also, the state governments wereinformedto stayalerteverysecondtodetectnewCOVIDcases.
NewCOVIDGuidelinesAndResourcesOf2023
Whenthecountrystartednoticingthefreshcasesoftwodifferentvariants,itwashightimeto implement and make it mandatory for the public to follow the new covid new guidelines With the growing casesinChinaandSouthKorea,4thCOVIDwavefearinIndiawasraised.
Keeping in mind the outbreak of past waves, India has broughtbackthepreviouspatternsof theCOVIDwave.Belowaretheguidelinesissuedbythegovernment.
● AlertForTheNext40Days
Starting from January, the next 40 days were considered crucial days for India. The country will notice a rise in coronavirus infection. By studying the patterns of previous outbreaks and waves, it was predicted that the new wave could hit India in the next 30 to 35 days. Hence, the local public and travellers are requested to stay alertandpracticetakingnecessaryprecautions.
● GovernmentAndUnionHealthMinistryRequestedToMaskUp
The government ministries urged the Indians to mask up again. Before stepping out, the Indians are advised to wear masks. Now, actions are taken to make every individual follow mandatory precautions such as social distancing. Especially the maintenance of social distancing was urged to follow in crowded public places such asrailwaystations,metros,metrostations,airports,etc.
It was also strictly requested that elderly citizens take the complete dose of vaccine along with the boosterdoseassoonaspossible.Thisisbecausetheyareonthehighly infected list, among others. People are advised to watchtheguidelinesvideotoknow abouttheavailablecovidresourcesinIndia
● Vistara airline informed travellers to be aware of the effective new rules. From January 1, 2023, a negative test report of pre-departure RT-PCR has become mandatory for travellers from Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, and Japan. Before landing in India, the passengers must submit their negativetestreport.
The Union Health Ministry of India hasstrictlymentionedthisintheguideline.Also, as per guidelines, the test shouldbeconductedwithin72hoursofthejourneytoIndia without fail. The negative report of the RT-PCR test is necessary to get uploaded on theAirSuvidhaportalbeforethedeparturetime.
FinalWords
India istakingallthenecessarymeasurestopreventtheoccurrenceofthenextCOVIDwave. With the covid newguidelinesandavailableresources,thepublicisrequestedtoresponsibly
take the necessary aids and precautions. As India is still recovering from the past lockdown effects, it's important to pre-check the possibilities of infection rate and find an immediate solution.